Lotus Evora and Evora S Review, Features Toyota Camry V6 Engine

How can a mid-engine sports car with a Toyota Camry engine possibly compete with the likes of a Porsche Cayman R & S, Audi TT RS, Chevrolet Corvette Z06, or a Nissan GT-R?

Here are excerpts from the review:
The Lotus Evora and Evora S are the world’s only two-seat or two-plus-two configured mid-engined sports cars. Making them additionally unique is the fact that power is supplied by Toyota’s 3.5-liter V6 (Yes, Toyota). Available in naturally aspirated, and huffed (supercharged) versions, the Evora is one of the best-sorted sports cars that we have driven regardless of powertrain. We were surprised at the scope of expertise found in this pair. With parts from some of the best and brightest in the industry, it runs in rare air indeed.

The Evora is not the first Lotus car to pull motive power from a Toyota parts bin. The Exige and Elise both use versions of the 1.8-liter in-line four-cylinder engine, and have done that for years. The Evora follows this tact, by pilfering the 3.5–liter V6 engine that would normally be found in your mother’s Toyota Camry or grandma’s Lexus ES 350. According to Lotus engineers, they also lifted the transmission from the European Lexus IS 200 diesel, a car that is not available here.

About the engine:
When it came time for the company to build the car, they decided not to reinvent the wheel. It has been said that a piece of Lotus engineering is in 70 percent of the vehicles on the road today. So from a reliability standpoint, the firm turned to Toyota for their 3.5-liter V6 and added their own engine control unit as well as other various and sundry tweaks, which causes it, in Evora trim, to pump out 276 horsepower and 258 lb-ft. of torque at 4,700 rpm. Although not tested by the EPA yet the Evora achieved a 32.5 mpg average on the Euro cycle, while providing 0-60 times of 4.9 seconds. That’s a great performance-to-mpg ratio by any standard.

Put it in the Evora S (that’s S as in Supercharged) and it produces 345-horsepower at 7,000 rpm and 295 lb-ft of torque at 4,500. The EPA did get around to checking this one in at 17 city/26 highway miles per gallon with 0-60 time of 4.3 seconds.

Both engines feature variable valve timing with intelligence (VVTi). Even more impressive is the Evora curb weight of 3,048 lbs., while the Evora S with the added weight of the magnesium supercharger checks in with 3,168 lbs. to push around.

The six-speed gearbox from the Euro-spec diesel Lexus IS is quite solid, smooth and capable of the task of spinning the rear wheels of a 162-mph Evora or a 172 mph-capable Evora S sports car. The Evora S gets the benefit of a sport ratio gear set that is optional on the standard model.

The full review can be found at the link below.